Improvement in gr



In ven Zar wim/Wag To vall whom it may concern..- Be itknown that I,SAMUEL RA1NBiRn,of -Norwich, in the county of Norfolk, in that'` part ofthe United Kingdom of Great Britain Vand Ireland-called England,builder,have invented new and useful Improvements in shown at E F and G H. fixedby shackles at different distances apart. .These chains are to grapplethe sunken ves- UNITED STATES PATENT Trice.

SAMUEL RAINBIRD, or NoRwI'cIL COUNTY or NORFOLK, ENGLAND.

.'IMPROVEMENT IN GRAPPLlNG AND RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS, ic.

ySpecification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,l "72, dated May(i, i862.

Grapplingand Raising Sunken Vessels and other submerged Bodies, and inApparatus for that Purpose; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full and exact description thereof,'reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference .marked thereon.

This'invention consists of improvements in grappling sunken vessels andother sub- Amerge`-dbodies by .means 'of chains and raising'theinbymeans of air-vessels in connectioufwith other apparat-us, anda-lso ofimj'provem'cnts in such apparatus.

I' shall first proceed to describe the drawings'fand afterwardV the modeof grappling .andfraising the sunken vessel .or other body. B and C D inFigure 1 are two graduated chains by which vthe sunken vesselor otherbody-is to be raised. Each ot thesev two chains 'has two rings' orsimilar guides,as f These rings can be selfandto forma cradle inwhich itis to be raised, as hereinafter described.

Fig; .2 is a plan showingthe sunken vessel' Dand two steam-vessels orother vessels, A

A', anchored one at each side of the sunken vessel. Two smaller vessels,B B', are anchored at the head and stern ot the sunken vessel and serveto support the chains, which are shown extended and 'readyto' be loweredto grapple the sunken vessel.

Fig.. 3 is a side View ot an airfcyl'inder or cylindrical air-vesseliade of wrought iron plates riveted together and .-stfreiigthened byribs and braces. In eitremely `long vessels two or more of theseair-cylinders are eniployed, one or more being placedion each side ofthe su nken vessel, as hereinafter described. Each air-cylinder isproi-'idefd with a keel and rudder and a ballastvhamber to facilitatethe steering of it to the required position before itis' lowered down,as hereinafter 'described' Fig. 4 is a plan of a stopper by means of!lwhich the chains which are to raise the sunken' vessels are fixed intheir proper places. This stopper slides between two rabhel'ed rails, BB, which are fixed onthe top of the air-cylinder. A is the stopper,which is a plate of metal perforated by a .round hole a'ud astraightslit eonnnunicating together. The

round holel is large enough to 'allow of the `free )assawe ol' the gra i)ling-chain r. while c, which is thus stopped and fixed, while bypullingthe rope or chaii'rb it is aga-in released.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the air- 'cylindeig showing thelinternal arrangements. A A is an air-tight fioor, the spacchelow whichis filled with water to serve as ballast for keeping the cylinder in oneconstantposition.

The aircylinder is divided into two compartments or more by a partit-ionor bulkhead, E, so that either compartment may be'iilledwith air ordischarged independently of the other.

Au'umber of cylindrical tubes, l 2 3 4 5 6, open at both ends, arecarried through the air-cylinder and serve for the reception of thegrappling-chains. .(Shown in Fig. l.) hh` are valves for the entranceand escape of the air from each eoxnl'lartment. lhey are opened andclosed by means of ropes in a similar manner to that in which thestopper (shown in Fig. l) is. worked. These valves communicate withil'enible tubes which are carried up above the surface of the water.

A tube, d, passes through the air-cylinder near to each end and containsavalve,e,co1'n municating with the interior of the aircyline der. Thisvalve is opened and closed by au iron rod the end'of which ascendsv t0the top of the air-cylinder and is worked by `a'lever or Winch at thetop. \Vhen the air-cylinder is rather more than halfiilled with water,the

valve e., Fig. 5, is closed. This part ofthe apparatus is shown on alarger scale Ain Fig.

9; which is a section, and'FigsylO and ll,

Awhich are front and back views, of the same.

E isfthe valve. A Bin these-lgures is a bent pipe or radial tube Workingin a stuingbox airis forced into the air-eylimler.

orwindlasses on each steamer.

at the point il, which is in the axis ot' the' aireylinder or ponton andfurnished with :t

closed and by pulling the other chain the'` valve is uuserewed andopened. A li'serres tor the escape ot' the water when As this pipeisfree to turn in the stuffing-box at the point marked l) in Figs. ,l andttl and I in Fig. 5, its own weight keeps it in :t vertical position, sothat it is always suitably ptaeed .for thedisehm'ge ot' the wat-er,although the air-c vliiuler-may roll over on one side.'

Fig. t; is an end View, and Fig. t4 is a Iside View, showing the modeot" applying the im proved apparatus t'or raising a sunken vessel orother sulnuerged body. Fig. l is a plan ol' the same. l) isthe-suukenvessel. AAare two steanurrs which l employ to tow the aircylinders orpont'ons to the spot. A man. is sent down in a diving-dress to ascertainthe position ot the sunken vessel, and a rope with a buoyis attached toeach (11d ot it. 'I`h'e two Steamers are moored in the position shown inthe figures, and two siualler vessels (marked ly B iu Fig. 2) are mooredin the 4positions there shown. One ot the chains A l and D, Fig. l, isplaced ou hoard eaeh steamer, and the rings E and F and (l and Il areplaced ata distance. apart somewhatless than the length ot the sunkenvessel, or about tive leettmorc or less) from each end of it. rlhe end Aot' one chain, Fig. l, is then passed through the ring (t, and the endl-i is then passed through the ring ll. 'lheend t* ol' the other chainis passed through the ring E, and the end l) is passed through the ringF. lhe ends of the chains are attached to (.'apstans 'of the chain whichextend from one Vsteamer to the other are extended by means ot thesmaller vessels, l l},in Fig. 2, and the chains are then lowered down tothe bottom, so as to surround and inelose the sunken vessel or otherbody. All lou r windlasses or eapstans arethen worked, by whieh meansthe chains irc drawn together unt-il the)` embrace and ograpple thesunken vessel, as shownin Fig, S. The air-eylin `lers or pontons are nowbrought alongside ot' the Steamers. A short' piece ot' air-cylii'u'ler,and a similar .piece is passed through the corresponding tube in theother compartment, t-he distance between the two tubesI being the sameas that between the rings .E anu F or (t an`d'll',' Fig. l. lheends ot'these shortJ chains are hooked on the side ot' the air-cylinders, as atIl I), Fig. il, until they are vrequired to be used. They are thenunhooked and connected to the ends of the grappli11g-chains, while theother ends et? the ',lhe portions vThis pipe `are not shown in thedrawings.

chain, Fig. 7, is passed through one 'ot' the l vertical tubes of.' onecompartanent ot' each short Chains are connect-ed to the windlasses orother lifting-power on board the Steamers.

'lhe next operation is to prepare for sinking the air-cylinders. theneonneeted tothe various short rropes or chains u, rlfg g, Fig. .3, t'orthe inupose ot wrnkiug the valves, and also to the ropes or i eha'ins (tl, Fig. t, for working the stoppers.

'lhe airtubes are also attached. A valve at top and bottom oteaehballast-tank A, Fig. 5, is opened, so asto place it in communieationwiththerestottheair-cylimler.

` ',lhey are opened by means otl rods ascending through the top olf theair-eyliiuler and worked by means ot a lever or winch. 'lwo chains orropes are att-ached to the side ot' the air-cylihder, as at rl lr, Figs.Ii anti ti, t'or the purpose ot' hovering the air-cylimter. ropes areattached to eapstans or windlasses ou thesteamersfaud are graduated ormarked at intervals ot.' a l'athom or other measure similarto thegrappling-chaius, so as to serve asa guide in lowering the airberlinderin a horizontal position. IC\(e1 \'thingbeing thus arranged, thema-tres7l and e e, Fig. 5,- are opened, and the wat er tiows in, driving outtheair at. the valves it 7:,and theair-cylimlerthen begins to subside.\\'hen the air-cylinder is rather more than half-immersed in the water,the valves e e are elosed and the screw-valves at d d are opened. Thewater continues to enter at d I until the cylinder or ponton sinks.' Itis lowered down gradually 'by means ot' the graduated ropes or chains,as4

shown in Fig. S, being guided in its descent by the.grappling-eliains.ll'hen it has reached the bottom, as shown at C in Fie'. ti, the ropesol' the stoppers (marked (l. iu'Fig. -t) arefnilled, and thegrappling-chains are thus secured to the air-c vliluler or ponton. Theother air cylinder or cylinders are lowered and tixed in a similarmanner. A diver may now be sent down to aseertain that everything isproperly arranged. 'lhe valves-:y z, Fig. 5,arelopened by pulling theropes attached to them, and air is then forced down the tiexihletubesinto t-he air-Cylinders by means of air-pumps placed on board thesteamers and worked by hand or bythe engines ol.x the steaniers orotherwise.v 'lhe water is thus gradually displaced from theair-cylinders, which are thus rendered buoyant.. lt', however, the airwere to y be lforced in until the air-cylinders acquired sut'tieientbuoyancy to raise the sunken Vessel, `the consequence would be that itwould rise to the sui-tace without any control, and might, iu tact, risehead or stern first, or even fall out ot the grappling-chainsaltogether.

To avoid such accidents, 1 proceed in the following manner: I haul upthe graduated chains by means of the windlasses or any other power untilthe)Y are stretched tight, and I hang a weight onone of the levers ot'eachA eapst'an or windlass, so as to keep a certain amount. of tensionon the graduated chains.

Air is then forced into the air-cylinders uu Ropes or chains are 'thesevalves.

'lhese chains orv til their buoyancy, together with the weights on thewindlasses, is sulicient to raise the vessel. The weights then descendupon the decks ot' the Steamers. The screw-valves at d d in Fig. 5 arenow closed, and the windlasses are then worked and the sunken vessel isdrawn gradually up to the surface. The graduations or marks on the ropesor chains show at once the position of the vessel and enable the workmento raise it in a horizontal position. At the same time the laboro'traising the vessel is not very great, because the greater part ot'its weight is balanced by the air-cylinders. It the buoyancy should befound too great, it may be reduced by opening the valves at d d in Fig.5, so as to allow a portion of water to enter and displace a portion olthe air, which is allowed to escape by a stop-valve at the upper end ofeach iiexible tube. \Vhen the sunken vessel has thus been raised to thesurface, it may be towed away into shallow water while still supportedby the air-cylinders, or it may be previously lightened by pumping outthe water and removing the cargo.

It is not necessary that t-he grapplingchains should be made ot' thesame strength throughout, as the part above the air-cylind ers does notrequire to be so strong as the lower part. The part above theair-cylinders may be detached by tlie diver and removed after theair-cylinders have been secured in their proper positions and beforebeginning to raise the vessel. A safety-valve opening outward andlightly loaded with a spring or weight may be attached to the upper partof the air-cylinder, and it may be protected by vbeing inclosed in atube like the valves at l and c in Fig.`

In raising a sunken vessel in the manner above described the valvesat 1) in Figs. 9, l0, and ll, or at d in Fig. 5, are closed when asulticient amount of buoyancy has been obtained, and the same or nearlythe same amount of buoyancy 'will thus be preserved during the raisingof the sunken vessel, for the compressed air will expand and escape atthe safety-valve as the vessel rises without affecting' the quantity olwater contained in the air-cylinders. It the valves at (l (il in Fig. 5were left open, on the contrary, the compressed air would expand as thevessel rose and would displace a portion of water, and thus increase theamount of buoyancy. This increase of buoyancy must be checked byallowing a port-ion of air to escape, so as always to leave a part ofthe weight to be raised by the windlasses or other lifting power.

are

In lieu of hanging a weight on the lever of the windlass, the workmenmay be employed to press upon the lever, so as to keep up a tension uponthe lifting chains or ropes.

I have described the air-vessels as being ot a cylindrical form andconstructed ot' wrought-iron plates, which I prefer; but other forms andmaterials maybe employed provided that they are made suliicieutly strongand airtight.

I have described the operations as applied to the grappling and raisingot' sunken vessels; but they maybe applied in a similar manner to othersubmerged bodies-as, for instance, for raising' large detached masses ofrock when ot' suitable form to be held by the grappling-chains.

Having now described the natureol1 my invention and the manner in whichthe same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do notclaim, generally, the raising ot sunken vessels by means of air-vessels;but

That I claim isf l. The mode or modes ol' grappling sunken vessels andother submerged bodies by the peculiar arrangement of chainshereinbefore described.

2. rlhe mode or modes hereinbel'ore described ol' raising sunken vesselsand other submerged bodies by balancing' a portion only of the weight byair-vessels and then raising the sunken vessel or other submerged bodyby means ot windlasses or similar machinery.

3.-'lhe apparatus hereinbefore described, consisting of air cylinders orvessels divided into compartments traversed by tubes with stoppers forsecuring the grappling-chains, and movable escape-pipes or radial tubesfor the escape of the water, together with valves capable ot beingworked by chains or ropes and other appurtenances, as hereinbet'oredescribed.

4. The combination of air vessels and chains or ropes with windlasses orother lifting machinery, in manner hereinbefore described, for thepurpose of grappling and raising sunken vessels or other submergedbodies by such combined apparatus, as hereinbet'ore described.

Done at Manchester this 16th day of May, 1861.

SAMUEL RAINBIRD.

Witnesses:

EDWARD J osEPH HUGHES, JOHN BLooDwoRTH,

Patent Agents, both of 17 Cross Street, llfaw chester.

